Fabiola Méndez, who plays Julian B. Lane Riverfront Park in Tampa, Florida on March 1, 2025. Credit: Photo by Ally Schmaling

The visual arts are the main course at this weekend’s Gasparilla Festival of the Arts, but organizers have also booked two full mornings and early-afternoons of live music emceed by Tampa Bay’s favorite weatherman, Denis Phillips.

Topping the lineup is Puerto Rican artist Fabiola Méndez who weaves her rich culture and storytelling into vibrant, bouncy folk songs driven by the cuatro (a guitar-lookin’ and actin’ descendent of the lute that the 28-year-old Berklee grad has played since she was six years old). An alum of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and NPR Tiny Desk, Méndez is a great get for the music bookers at GFA who’ve long brought high-quality national acts to the stage.

She’s part of a two-day lineup at Julian B. Lane Riverfront Park that includes more than a dozen performing artists like Tampa rapper Pusha Preme, pop outfit Prizilla, Congolese songwriter MK Blessed, spoken word from the Growhouse collective, Tampa rock band TV Breakup Scene and more.

There’s no cover for the Gasparilla Festival of the Arts concerts happening at Julian B. Lane Riverfront Park in Tampa on Saturday-Sunday, March 1-2.